Release mechanisms are generally utilized to separate bodies or detach appendages from a main body. Separating two bodies presents the possibility that frictional effects or shock that may be transmitted between the bodies will, for example, affect the position, direction or speed of one or both of the bodies.
Various release mechanisms have been used in the past. For example, one such release mechanism is a device for latching and unlatching a riser pipe to the casing in a subsea well. The device is described U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,148 to Zaremba. In Zaremba, the releasing mechanism utilizes a number of radially extendible pistons to expand a split ring out of the casing groove in the subsea well to the grooved recess of the riser pipe. The casing is cemented in the wellbore and the riser pipe is attached to the casing.
Another release type mechanism is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,112 to Castel. In Castel, the device connects and disconnects guidelines between installations on the seabed and a floating platform. In this device, a disconnecting device comes into contact with locking heads and applies an amount of force such that the locking heads are disengaged.
One other device is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,042 to Viale. In Viale, the device maintains a set of elements in a folded position that are hinged to one another and to a structure, e.g., solar panels on a spacecraft. The device utilizes a control means that unlocks a locking means and allows the set of elements to pass from the folded position to an unfolded position. The control means comprises a cam-forming piece coaxial with the retaining member in which the retaining member is locked by balls positioned in spherical depressions of the retaining member. The retaining member is unlocked when the balls are moved out of the spherical depressions.
None of the aforementioned mechanisms attempt to minimize the frictional effects and the shock that is transmitted to separating bodies. Minimization of the frictional effects and the transmission of shock between separating bodies is important in the environment of space as it minimizes the possibility of altering, for example, a spacecraft's position.